A manhunt has been launched by the Metropolitan Police after a Breitling sales assistant was punched in the face by a man who fled with a £10,000 watch from one of its busiest stores.

Police are appealing for information after the man stole the high value timepiece from the brand’s Westfield branch in Stratford and assaulted a member of its staff in the process.

The suspect asked to try on the watch, a Breitling Super Avenger II, valued at more than £10,000, when he entered the store, but then assaulted the sales assistant by punching him in the face. He exited the store taking the watch with him.

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The incident took place on Saturday 6 January, but detectives only released CCTV stills of the man they are trying to track down this morning.

They want to hear from anyone who can name the male shown in the pictures, which were captured inside the shopping centre before the offence was committed.

Police said that anyone who can name the person should call Flying Squad Detectives by dialling 101, quoting reference CAD5149/6Jan18 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

They added that the sales assistant, also male, did not suffer any lasting injuries.